Lead and Follow
by aphelion-orion
Summary: Fayt leads, and Albel follows. He just doesn't like to think too much about why he does so. [slight shounen ai]


**Title:** Lead and Follow  
**Pairing:** slight Albel+Fayt, if you squint.  
**Rating: **G  
**Warnings: **None. Bit of shounen ai, if you choose to read it that way.  
**Disclaimer: **TriAce and SquareEnix own them.  
**Notes:** This was written a while ago for a friend, to suit the quote beneath the title. Unfortunately, I can't remember who said that, so if anyone does know, please tell me.

-

**Lead and Follow**

"_I would go anywhere to get to you, so why is it that all you have to do is smile to get to me?"_

-

There were places Albel had never intended to go, mostly because they would only prove to be a waste of time.

As he was squinting against the pitch-black darkness of the Mosel Underground, only broken here and there by and eerily glowing will-o-wisp, Albel felt not inclined to revise his opinion. While he had to admit that the original implication of "a waste of time" had mainly pertained to not encountering any challenging adversaries (and was thus not applicable to their current location), Albel had expanded his opinion to include "completely nonsensical detour", which was certainly true.

The ruins of Mosel were quite a ways away from their intended destination, and moreover, they seemed to have come here for no reason other than "mystic" treasures that were supposedly hidden in the lower levels. Why unfounded rumors from a crazy old Menodix peddler were enough to make Fayt want to go on a treasure-hunting quest, Albel did not know. He had stopped questioning Leingod Logic (with a capital "L") some time ago, and besides, he did not feel like making himself look stupid by asking questions like the Aquarian wench, who was desperately trying to follow the cryptic conversation the more outlandish members of this ragtag bunch were having. Pathetic.

So far, this part of the ruins had yielded only a maze of slippery stone pathways built across a vast subterranean lake - though it was hard to tell much beyond that in the darkness - and a veritable colony of surprisingly strong monsters.

Annoyingly shrieking monsters, Albel amended as he dealt the killing blow to what looked like a heavily armed mermaid and the thing dissolved into a puddle of cold, green glowing goo with a scream shrill enough to almost shatter his eardrums. While the monsters were proving to be a decent challenge, the rest of the party did not seem to be enjoying themselves half as much as Albel. In fact, most of them were breathing heavily and had to stop to perform first aid after every battle. He was so not looking forward to hearing them complain about their ouchies as they turned in for the night, but that seemed like a minor annoyance compared to what would happen if anyone of them got seriously injured.

This would mean that the entire group would stay to nurse their fallen companion back to health, a behavior that might have seemed sweet and caring to an empty-headed fool but only made Albel want to gnash his teeth. As with everything else surrounding Fayt, though, Albel had given up on privately asking himself "why". There was simply no logical explanation for why Leingod Logic forbade it to leave a recuperating member behind and finish the mission with one head short of a team. It wasn't as if it was impossible to do so.

The more Albel dwelt upon this, the more frustrated he could feel himself becoming. Weren't they supposed to help save the world from mortal peril (or something)? Wasn't that a little urgent? He opened his mouth, fully ready to make a derogatory remark about this place and certain individuals' time management -

The cool tingle of a healing spell washed over him before he could voice his irritation.

Fayt smiled at him over the spell's fading glow, eyes bright with excitement, and said, "Let's go, Albel."

Albel followed without so much as a word. He would rather not think about why he did so.

----

There were places Albel had sworn he would never return to for as long as he lived.

One such place was the Urssa Lava Caves, home to many dangerous dragons. Albel had vowed to himself that he would never see the inside of this place again for the rest of his life, but it seemed that fate was a bitch who just liked to force him to go back on his word.

If it had only been about the king's order, Albel would have had no problem with a little insubordination. Most of the time, there was good reason for him ignoring his orders, and the only one who tended to nag him about it was Woltar, the senile old codger. Nor did he care that this was supposed to be a mission to save Elicoor from certain doom – whatever did _he_ owe to the world, anyway? But the fact that Fayt, his most unexpected nemesis, was going without even batting an eyelash, made this mission impossible to ignore. How would he ever figure out what made the fool so strong if he didn't watch him closely?

Now, standing at the entrance to the Caves, Albel fought down the phantom pain shooting up his left arm and almost wished he had made good on his vow. But there was nothing that he hated more than cowardice, so no way in hell was Albel the Wicked going to back down from a challenge.

"Albel?" Fayt was looking up at him with wide, worried eyes.

What the hell was he…? _Oh_. Damn. His claw was twitching convulsively, a fake spasm of a fake hand. Albel clamped down on his emotions to still the runological flow within the metal, and glared at the boy with a heat to match the lava around them.

"I'm fine. Mind your own business, fool!"

Fayt blinked, before a quick smile flitted across his face, good humor replacing concern. "Actually, I just wanted to ask you if you wanted to go scout out the area. The others are taking a break, and I thought it would be a good idea, but if you'd rather stay with them…" he trailed off almost teasingly. Such insolence.

"Hmph. Why didn't you say so in the first place?" Albel grumbled, joining the boy and turning his gaze to pierce the hot steam ahead of them, if only to avoid the sunny smile directed his way.

----

There were places Albel had never imagined he'd ever go to, mostly because he had never imagined them to begin with.

Who in their right mind would have thought that there were literally millions of worlds like Elicoor among the stars, all of them more unbelievable and dangerous than the world he had called home for so long? And who would have thought that one day, he would be traveling in the most curious vessel to reach them?

Albel still felt hopelessly lost among all the technology that permeated the ship, and hated that feeling of helplessness. Albel the Wicked was not helpless. But was it his fault if the mere act of lighting up a dark room had suddenly become an arcane mystery his mind could hardly comprehend?

When Albel had claimed to be ready for a new world, he had not thought that even feeding himself would turn into a hopelessly complicated adventure – "No, Albel, I swear, replicators are not witchcraft, and produce completely edible food. If you need help next time, just say so. Don't stab the machine again." – but before his common sense had been able to catch up with his excitement, Fayt had smiled that damnable smile and welcomed him on board.

----

"Hey, Albel. You're still up?"

Albel turned from the ocean of stars beyond the observation bay's transparent wall to face Fayt, who looked paler than normal.

"I could say the same about you, fool."

"I'll go to bed in a little while, don't worry."

Albel snorted and turned back to the window, not even bothering to correct the idiot's assumption. He had long-since learned that although he could convince anyone in the group without a problem that he had not, did not and would never care for any of them, Fayt would just smile like he knew something Albel did not, and as of late, Albel was a bit reluctant to find out just how much Fayt knew.

"The Commodore's set a course. We'll arrive at Styx in two days." Fayt had joined him at the window, and from the corner of his eye, Albel could see that his gaze remained fixed upon the stars. How strange… Fayt had never been reluctant to meet his eyes before.

"We… could take a detour, though. Drop you off at Elicoor, if you like."

Ah, so that was it. Albel bit down on the bout of hot anger that wanted to escape him, and instead gave the other a withering glare. "Am I that much of a hindrance to you?" He had meant for it to sound acidic, but to his distaste, it sounded less mocking and more like an actual question.

Fayt blinked. "Huh? _No_!" he amended quickly. "I offered the same thing to Cliff a little while ago. Because… it's just… it's not your fight, you know? Me, Sophia and Maria – we're the only ones who can make a difference. We can't _not_ go. But you don't have to, that's all I'm saying." At Albel's continued silence, he pressed on. "And, well, there's no telling what we might learn. I mean, we're talking about standing up to the one who claims to have created all of us. Basically a god, if you believe in that sort of thing. We've got no idea how that might change our views on… anything. Everything. I don't know." He shrugged, not knowing how to put his thoughts into words.

Albel shook his head, feeling the anger drain from within him as quickly as it had come. That was just so like the boy, worrying about things he had no control over. As if _Albel_ could crack any further than he already was. If anything, the idiot should be more worried about himself.

"You better not be trying to patronize me, you fool," he answered. "I made my decision, and I don't feel like second-guessing myself because of you."

Once again, he had spoken before his common sense could get a word in, but it didn't matter. Fayt was smiling that brilliant smile, and Albel had the distinct feeling that this would make him go anywhere, come hell or high water.

----

**A/N:** Albel sounds a bit more sane than I think he is, but hey. It can't all be about deep psychology and complete angst. XD

- Anyone else ever wonder why time always seems to stop in RPGs for the heroes to go treasure hunting and doing sidequests? That thought just struck me, and I went with it.  
- I'm thinking here that it's mostly some kind of runology that was used for fine-tuning Albel's claw. I doubt Elicoor has the technology to make a semi-usable prosthesis, otherwise.

Sooo... like? Dislike? Do tell me. I'd really like to know. :-)


End file.
